1. Technical Field
This invention relates to resealable packages, and more particularly to a resealable blister type package for displaying packaged goods in a container which can be opened and resealed without obvious or apparent damage, yet has indication of tampering.
2. Background Art
A form of packaging commonly used in retail merchandising is the blister package designed for pegboard display. Generally, these types of packages have a cardboard backing, upon which product or advertising information is printed, and to which is attached a clear plastic blister assembly to form a container in which goods are displayed and held. A hole is formed at the top of the cardboard backing so that the package can be held on an extended peg of a pegboard display. In this manner large volumes of varied items can be held on a pegboard, in stores where shelf space is at a premium.
This type of packaging is used for numerous and varied types of items and would includes such things as small quantities of nails, thumb tacks, cosmetic toiletry articles, and other small items too numerous to mention. In the usual case, blister packaging is required when it is desirable to provide a convenient way of merchandising preselected number of units, such as a package containing twenty small finish nails. A second object of the conventional blister pack is to provide security for the goods, because the blister package is substantially bigger than the goods themselves, which makes pilferage and shoplifting much more difficult. An example of this would be a ballpoint pen, which if offered for sale in bulk and contained in a shelf bin, could easily be pilfered merely by picking up and inserting one in a shirt pocket. On the other hand, if held in a blister package, pilferage is a much more difficult and risky task, since the pilferer must break open the package to remove the pilferable contents.
As a result, most of the development work in the past has been directed toward providing blister package which are destroyed when opened. Typically, these blister packaging devices have a cardboard backing to which is attached a clear plastic assembly. An adhesive plastic material is first sprayed onto the surface of the cardboard, usually the entire surface in cases where the blister packaging is of the same relative size as the cardboard backing. Then the cardboard backing is positioned atop the blister pack assembly, together with its contents, and heat is applied to the flanged edges of the blister pack to bond the cardboard, plastic adhesive and blister pack assembly flanges together. This process is called heat sealing.
In order to open the package, the plastic assembly must be torn from the cardboard backing. An improvement in common use today, includes providing perforations in the cardboard backing to facilitate access to the goods through the cardboard.
A problem arises when it is desired to provide blister packaging suitable for pegboard display, wherein the blister back can easily be opened and resealed without apparent damage to the packaging itself. This would be of value in situations where it is desirable to remove the goods from the package for inspection prior to purchase, or in cases where intended use of the goods is such that the purchaser will use only a few items at a time and wish to store, in the original packaging, the remaining items. Examples of these situations would be where a prospective purchaser of an archery bow string would desire to inspect the entire string prior to purchase, or, a package of small finish nails wherein the purchaser may purchase twenty nails when only two or three are needed, with the rest to be stored for future use.
A resealable blister type packaging assembly is disclosed in Backman, et a. ("Backman"), U.S. Pat. No. 4,586,316, herein incorporated by reference. It provides a lid attached to the plastic blister assembly, which wraps around the back of a base plate. Interfitting snap lock assemblies are provided on the blister package flange, and the lid to hold the assembly together. In Croce, U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,294, also incorporated by reference, a tear package is provided with foamed polypropylene material which has resealable adhesive material on a preselected portion of the package which, after being torn open, can be reattached to the foamed polypropylene material.
While the packages disclosed in Backman and Croce are reclosable, the package of Croce cannot be used in situations where it is desirable to facilitate inspection of merchandise prior to purchase, since the package will show apparent damage once opened. In the case of Backman, the fact that the package is reclosable will be readily apparent even to the casual observer unless the lip is taped or stapled to the back of the package base.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,462, issued to Gould (the present inventor) and incorporated by reference, discloses a blister package with a portion which is resealable by means of a resealable adhesive. One problem with this is that a user cannot tell is the package has been opened or tampered with.
Accordingly, what is needed is a reclosable package which will not show apparent damage when opened and later reclosed, yet will appear as a conventional blister pack which cannot be opened without damage, and will provide evidence that the package has been opened. Another object of this invention is to provide a blister package which is simple and inexpensive to manufacture and assemble.